Excerpt from Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor, Vol. 51: March, 1904In Bulletin N o. 39, the issue for March, 1902, data relating to wholesale prices for the period from 1890 to 1901 were presented, and in Bulletin No. 45, the issue for March, 1903, this compilation was con tinned for the year 1902. In this Bulletin are presented the actual prices for 1903, and the relative prices for the fourteen years from 1890 to 1903.As was explained in Bulletin No. 45, changes in the actual prices of single commodities may readily be seen by the inspection of a series of quotations covering a number of years, but in order to ascertain the changes in the general price level from year to year, the quotations for a number of commodities of a more or less dis similar character must be examined and in some manner combined. The method quite generally adopted for this purpose by statisticians and economists is the use of what is commonly known as the index number or relative price.Before proceeding to the discussion of the data which enter into the present record, it seems desirable to define the index number or relative price, and explain the various methods adopted in securing the same.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.